The 2017-2018 BU Terriers started off the season on the right start as they defeated the Union Dutchmen and Quinnipiac Bobcats by 5-2 and 3-2 scores respectively. The highlights for both games are posted below but the story of the season so far has been the strong play from sophomore Patrick Harper who has four goals in two games while freshman Shane Bowers has a goal per game including the OT game winner this past Sunday versus Quinnipiac.
There are plenty of positives from both these victories for the Terriers:
1. They are a young team that went 2-0 to start the year against good teams- Yeah yeah I know everyone talks about how young BU is every year but this is the first time since 2014-2015 season that the Terriers have started 2-0 and I would rather be a young 2-0 team that is already finding ways to win than an old team that is already finding ways to lose(sup Lowell fans?)
2. Patrick Harper is very good- The scoring distribution obviously needs to even out as Harper probably cannot score 70 goals in a season but him being so dynamic early on is a great sign that he can be the jumpstart up front when BU needs goals. Greenway, Carpenter, Tkachuk, Crone and Co are going to get their goals and when they do BU is going to be tougher to beat than they already are
3. Oettinger has been only okay(by his standards) and is still a top 5 goalie in the country- Watching the first two games for BU, I would say sophomore goalie Jake Oettinger has been pretty good but not great by his standards. The first goal versus Quinnipiac was from a bad angle and one he wants back I'm sure. The second was from fairly far out with little traffic that he probably makes a save on 75% of the time. Then you look at his stats and he has a .946 save percentage which is probably not sustainable and you remember how lucky you are as a fan of a team with a goalie of this caliber. Also helps you appreciate how good BU has been so far at controlling the game and limiting quality chances.
4. The rest of the league sucks this year- Yeah its early but Lowell got swept by UNH which is embarrassing and no other teams have any victories of note. PC beat an okay Miami team and BC tied Quinnipiac. Northeastern beating a pathetic Sacred Heart team will have 0 impact on how their season turns out.
5. Staying out of the box- The Terriers have found a way to be on the right side of the penalties so far while still playing physical hockey. This will be the key to the season. The ability to stay out of the box while still getting to the net will be key. Jordan Greenway has been his usual beast self down low and drawing plenty of after the whistle attention from opponents who can't stop him so they try to draw matching penalties. The refs should do more to protect him as opposition basically have been given the right to just go at him so far with no risk of a penalty but you know who is going to the box as soon as he hits them back and they crumble to the ice like they just tore their ACL.
The Terriers return to action this weekend against Minnesota State which will be another matchup against an older team that the Terriers will need to continue to grow to beat
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